How to Get Rid of Squatters in Alabama: Notice, Affidavit, Removal

To get rid of squatters in Alabama, a property owner of a residential dwelling can use an expedited law enforcement process created by a 2024 state law: post a written notice to vacate, file a sworn affidavit with any law enforcement agency in the county, and officers can serve a vacate notice and arrest the occupant as soon as 24 hours later. For commercial property, vacant land, or situations involving family members, the path is a formal ejectment lawsuit in Circuit Court.

Make Sure You Actually Have a Squatter

The removal process depends on who is in your property. A squatter moves in and stays without a lease or the owner’s permission. A trespasser enters without permission but doesn’t establish ongoing occupancy, and police can usually remove one on the spot. A holdover tenant is different from both: someone whose lease expired but who refuses to leave. Holdover tenants keep tenant protections and cannot be removed through the squatter process.

If you had a month-to-month arrangement, a holdover tenant is entitled to at least 30 days’ written notice before the next rent date. A week-to-week arrangement requires at least seven days.¹ Getting this wrong is expensive. The expedited squatter law requires you to swear under oath that the occupant is not a tenant or holdover tenant. Using it against someone with tenant protections can expose you to a lawsuit for actual damages, penalties, and attorney fees.²

The Expedited Removal Process for Residential Dwellings

Alabama’s anti-squatter law took effect on June 1, 2024. It lets residential property owners remove unauthorized occupants through law enforcement without filing a lawsuit. There are three steps.

Step 1: Post a Written Notice

Give the occupant a written notice stating that they have no right to the dwelling and must vacate immediately. The notice must include the street address of the law enforcement agency where you plan to file your affidavit. You can either hand it to the occupant or post it on the front door or entrance.²

Step 2: File a Sworn Affidavit

If the occupant doesn’t leave, submit a sworn affidavit to any law enforcement agency in the county where the property is located. The affidavit must state all of the following:

You are the owner of the dwelling or an authorized agent of the owner.
An individual has entered and is remaining unlawfully in the dwelling.
The individual was not authorized to enter or remain.
The individual is not a tenant or holdover tenant.
You have asked the individual to vacate and they have refused.
The individual is not an immediate family member of the property owner.
There is no pending litigation between you and the individual related to the dwelling.

Attach a copy of your valid government-issued ID and evidence of the notice you gave, including the date and time of delivery. If you’re filing as an agent, include documentation of your authority to act for the owner.² The immediate family member exclusion is worth noting up front. If the person in your property is a close family member, this process is off the table and you’ll need to pursue a court action instead.

Step 3: Law Enforcement Serves and Removes

After receiving the affidavit, law enforcement verifies that you are the recorded owner or authorized agent. At least 24 hours later, officers serve the occupant with a notice to vacate immediately, either by hand or by posting on the front door. Officers will also try to identify everyone in the dwelling. The agency may charge up to $50 to process the affidavit.³

If the squatter still refuses to leave after being served, officers can arrest them for trespassing, burglary, or any other applicable criminal offense.³

When You Need an Ejectment Lawsuit Instead

The expedited process only covers dwellings. If a squatter is occupying commercial property or vacant land, or the occupant is a family member, or there’s a genuine dispute over ownership, you’ll need to file an ejectment action in the Circuit Court of the county where the property sits. This is a formal civil lawsuit and moves at the pace of the court system, so plan for weeks or months rather than days.

The complaint must allege that you own the property or are entitled to possession, describe the property, and state that the defendant entered and unlawfully withholds it. Attach proof of ownership such as a deed.⁴ After you file and pay the filing fee, the complaint and a summons must be formally served on the squatter. They have 30 days from the date of service to answer. If they don’t respond, the court can enter a default judgment. If they contest it, the court will schedule a hearing.

Enforcing a Court Judgment

A judgment in your favor doesn’t let you walk in and move the squatter’s belongings. You need the court to issue a Writ of Possession, the formal order directing the sheriff to remove the occupant and return the property.⁵ Deliver the writ to the county sheriff’s office. A deputy carries out the physical removal. Only law enforcement can do this step.

Criminal Charges the Squatter May Face

The 2024 legislation expanded several criminal statutes aimed at squatter tactics, giving officers real authority during the removal process. Before the law, police responding to squatter complaints often treated the situation as a civil matter and left without acting.

Once law enforcement serves the vacate notice under the expedited process, a squatter who refuses to leave can be arrested for trespassing or burglary. Knowingly entering a dwelling and causing $1,000 or more in damage qualifies as third-degree burglary.³ Anyone who advertises, rents, or sells residential property they don’t own or have authority over commits a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail.⁶ A squatter who shows officers a fabricated lease or deed to justify staying can be charged with perjury.

Don’t Try to Remove the Squatter Yourself

Changing the locks, cutting off utilities, or hauling belongings to the curb creates legal exposure you don’t need. Alabama’s landlord-tenant statute allows tenants who are unlawfully removed or lose essential services to recover up to three months’ rent or their actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees.⁷ That statute technically protects tenants, but the risk is that you misidentify someone’s status or the occupant persuades a court they had some form of permission. Physical confrontations can also lead to assault charges against you. The expedited process moves fast enough that self-help isn’t worth the gamble.

Why Speed Matters

Alabama law allows someone to claim legal ownership of property through adverse possession if they occupy it long enough and meet specific conditions. A claimant must show that a deed or other document creating the appearance of ownership has been recorded in the county probate office for at least 10 years, and that the property has been listed for taxation annually during that period. The possession must also be open, continuous, and hostile to the true owner’s interest.⁸

Most squatters will never meet all these requirements, but the risk grows the longer you wait. A squatter who has been paying property taxes and recording documents for years is in a far stronger position than one who moved in last month.

Recovering Money From the Squatter

Squatters can cause real financial harm: lost rental value, damage to the structure, sometimes vandalism or theft. Alabama’s ejectment statute lets you recover more than just possession. In the same lawsuit, you can seek the fair rental value of the property during the unauthorized occupation and damages for waste or other injury to the land and buildings, calculated up to the time of the jury’s verdict.⁴ If the squatter’s entry was deliberate or aggressive, a jury may also award punitive damages. Document the occupant’s behavior and any property damage from the beginning; that record is what makes a damages claim work.

1
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9A-441 – Periodic Tenancy; Holdover Remedies
2
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9B-2 – Request for the Removal of an Unauthorized Individual From a Dwelling; Affidavit and Notice
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9B-3 – Verification of Owner; Service of Notice to Vacate on Unauthorized Individual
4
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 6-6-280 – Election to Proceed by Action of Ejectment or Action in Nature of Ejectment; Proceedings Upon Action in Nature of Ejectment
5
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 6-9-1 – Execution Against Lands and Goods
6
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-7 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Misdemeanors and Violations
7
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-9A-407 – Tenants Remedies for Landlords Unlawful Ouster, Exclusion, or Diminution of Service
8
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 6-5-200 – When Title to Land Conferred or Defeated; When Claim May Be Defended or Prosecuted; Construction of Section